Kalin Troy Johnson, 31, Minot, was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison, all suspended but the 212 days he has already served in the Ward County Jail, and three years of supervised probation for holding two people against their will at a Minot residence last August.

According to court documents, the incident may have began with an argument over money stolen during a drug deal.

The victims of the case told authorities that Johnson was not the ring leader of the incident and the the prosecutor said he had been a “calming influence” on his co-defendant, Teren Latron Evans, 32, and kept the situation from becoming even worse than it was.

Johnson had agreed to plead guilty to one count of Class C felony felonious restraint, a charge that had originally been Class B felony kidnapping, and the prosecution agreed to drop one count of Class B felony kidnapping with intent to terrorize an adult victim who was released, unharmed, two counts of Class C felony conspiracy to commit kidnapping, one Class C felony count of terrorizing while in possession of a firearm, one Class C felony count of conspiracy to commit terrorizing, and one Class C felony count of felon in possession of a firearm under the terms of a plea deal.

Johnson also agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of Evans and to testify against him at trial if needed. Judge Stacy Louser also ordered Johnson to have no contact with the victims and to pay court costs. Under the terms of the plea deal, the state also agreed to not try to have Johnson’s probation revoked in an unrelated possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance case.

In court on Wednesday, Johnson said he was sorry he had put himself in this situation.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, police had previously been investigating three shootings that appeared to be related to narcotics. One of the victims in the case told police his northwest Minot residence had been shot at on Aug. 21, 2020. The man indicated that Evans and Johnson, who respectively go by the street names “Boog” and “Kali” or “Cali,” had held him. The alleged victim told police that he owed Evans money from a previous drug deal.

On Aug. 27, 2020, according to the police affidavit, Evans and Johnson allegedly held the victim of the Aug. 21 incident, his girlfriend and male roommate at a northwest Minot apartment and demanded money to pay the man’s drug debt. Soon after the man left the residence to get money from his boss, Johnson and Evans allegedly went back into the residence and forced the man’s girlfriend and male roommate into an SUV, drove around Minot and then to a hotel in Williston before they drove the man and woman back to Minot and released them.

On Sept. 5, 2020, Evans allegedly shot and wounded the victim of the Aug. 21 incident, the same man who had “ripped him off” during the drug deal and owed him money. The victim identified Evans as the shooter to police. A witness had reported seeing Johnson with Evans right before the shooting.

According to the affidavit, Evans had told someone he “still has business to finish in Minot” and said others here owe him drug debts.

Evans is charged with two counts of Class A felony attempted murder, two counts of Class B felony kidnapping, two counts of Class B felony conspiracy to commit kidnapping when the victims were released unharmed, two counts of Class C felony terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, and three counts of felon in possession of a firearm.

Evans is in custody at the Ward County Jail with bond set at $1.5 million.

A preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled for May 7 before Judge Richard Hagar.